Living With What Happened
by Skorpa
Summary: Chell is free from Aperture. For good. She is now living with the nightmares of of the facility everyday by just survivng out in the real world. Chell expects to find people, actual living people in the world she re-enters but what she finds, might make her wish she never left Aperture. Post-Portal 2
1. Chapter 1

_Author's Note: Hello again! I would just like to say thank you for reading this if you read my other story or if you are new, welcome! I would also like to say that I was inspired to write this story from another user, MySilentLullaby and their Portal story, To Die By Your Side. I advise you to check it out! It is on my favorite storys on my profile. I hope you enjoy this story!_

**Disclaimer: I do not own anything related to Portal, Portal 2, or any of its related items. This is purely a work of fiction.**

* * *

The door to the small aluminum shack slammed shut as the white (very dirty now) companion cube was dropped in front of Chell.

Chell stared at the cube with shock at first, wondering how, of all things, this stupid cube was given back to her. She distinctly remembered destroying it in her first go through of tests with the twisted, evil robot AI known as GLaDOS. However, she then remembered that this was Aperture.

Aperture had probably MILLIONS of companion cubes at their disposal along with turrets, personality cores, and just the normal looking cubes (Ones without the hearts).

The cube was just sitting there. Not that it should be doing anything else for that matter but it made Chell feel like it was out of place in the sea of amber colored wheat surrounding the small, worn out aluminum shack. She grabbed for her portal gun out of instinct to launch the cube out of her site but then remembered she didn't have it anymore due to her resent encounter with Wheatley and GLaDOS.

Chell was still in shock over what had just happened before she passed out. She had been to the moon and back in a matter of seconds, while her former potato companion was hooked back up to the system she worked so hard to destroy. She really was genuinely surprised when GLaDOS just told her to leave. Chell couldn't even work up the courage to speak for once in her entire time at Aperture to thank the sadistic robot for letting her go.

Now she was standing in the blazing sun, in the middle of some wheat field with a randomly placed aluminum shack.

Oh yeah and the cube. Wouldn't think of forgetting that.

Chell looked around everywhere to see if she could just find something, anything that shows a sign of civilization. However, there was nothing but the golden, amber colored wheat in the Earth beneath her.

_"Haha, wheat. The irony"_

Chell didn't dare speak this out loud in fear of the her robot overseer hearing her.

She then had a realization

She wasn't in Aperture anymore. She wasn't being controlled anymore. She wasn't being told what to do and where to go _anymore._

She was herself

She could control her own destiny for the first time in what felt like forever. She didn't remember the time when she could think or do something, _anything _on her own rules. Her own agenda. Her own destiny.

Chell broke down and cried.

Not like the times when she was cold and lonely in Aperture, but for once, tears of joy, happiness, freedom. Emotions that Chell thought she would never experience again.

She stood there crying a little longer but then reality began to set in as beads of sweat ran down her face and her stomach began to growl with hunger. Her new found freedom would not be squandered by her coming all this way just to die of heat exhaustion and hunger.

"Water" Chell spoke her first word out loud in what was most likely years and immediately regretted it. Her throat began searing in pain as it felt like knives stabbing the inside of her throat. Her dry throat only made her verbal request more apparent as she now needed water more than she ever.

After clutching her throat from the pain, Chell began walking through the seemingly endless wheat field. She took about five steps before realizing the companion cube was still there. She considered taking it with her. It had been her only friend in the hell hole. Well, sort of a friend. It was the only thing that hadn't tried to kill her.

_"What does that thing matter anymore? Its a fucking cube. All it will bring back is nightmares." _Chell thought this to herself as she quickly turned back around towards the endless wheat field._  
_

* * *

Chell had been walking for what felt to her as a few hours. The sun was now starting to set and the temperature was quickly declining. For all of that walking, all she found was wheat. Nothing else. The only thing she is wearing is her ugly, worn down orange jumpsuit, white tank-top and her long fall boots. Her greasy, jet black hair was still tied in a ponytail. She was afraid of what it might look like if she ever undid it. She didn't know why she cared though. It wasn't like she was trying to look good in front of anyone. It was getting very cold outside and knowing from past experiences, her jumpsuit wasn't very warm.

Chell wasn't feeling very optimistic at this point. The sun had now completely set and it was dark outside. The only light now was the full moon showering the wheat field with white light. Chell held her arms together in order to preserve some warmth, but it wasn't helping.

"_I need to find some kind of shelter to stay in. I WILL NOT die out here."_

Chell continued to walk for a few more minutes going over a small wheat covered hill. At this point, her feet were completely sore and from all the walking done today. She was tired, thirsty, hungry, cold, and even a little scared. Nothing she hadn't faced before, especially in recent past, but now it was more apparent than ever.

She reached the top of the small hill and began to look over the horizon to see if she could spot anything. Her eyes darted everywhere hoping to spot anything but stupid wheat and they were quickly able to spot a dirt road.

Chell practically sprinted towards the road as she was excited she finally found _something. _Where would the road go? Which way should she go? She didn't care about the answers to those questions. All that was on her mind was the road. Running down the hill was sort of a challenge for Chell as she almost tripped several times due to the clunkiness of her long-fall boots. Running on solid ground was just a strange new experience to her in general.

She reached the road to grinding halt and looked both ways. Both ways looked identical, wheat covered hills and plains on both sides. No signs of anything else in sight. Chell shrugged her shoulders and just went one way down the road. She didn't care. She knew roads always lead to somewhere.

Hopefully that somewhere was a town.

Full of people.

Actual living, breathing people.

Chell started sprinting down the road.

* * *

_Please tell me what you think by reviewing! It really means a lot to me! By the way, I will only do the disclaimer in this chapter in case you were wondering_


	2. Chapter 2

_Author's Note: Alright im going to have to put this out there. As stated in the first chapter, I got some of the inspiration for this story from another user, MySilentLullaby and their story To Die By Your Side. I have since been in contact with this user and they informed me that my first chapter was distinctly similar to their story. I have apologized profusely to this user and would also like apologize again through the release of this chapter. If you have read To Die By Your Side then im sure you felt the same way about the first chapter. I would like to make this disclaimer though. My story will in no way shape or form be a copy or plagerised form of To Die By Your Side. I simply was inspired by how the user wrote the beggining of the story and the concept of Chell living her life after Aperture. I will also no longer be using concepts or similar plots to To Die By Your Side. The main plot of my story will be completely different from To Die By Your Side. (Don't want to give it away ;). Anyways please read this and tell me what you think! _

* * *

The road is clearly desolate. No end in sight is seen. Only the wheat. Chell sprints on the path until her lungs basically give way, which doesn't take long. She stops abruptly to catch her breath, what little she has left. She puts her hands on her knees in utter exhaustion and wonders to herself why she has such bad luck.

No water, no food, nothing in sight as far as the eye can see. Plus all the shit she went through in Aperture. She can still hear the cold, lifeless voice of GLaDOS commanding her go through another test over and over and over again.

It gives Chell a cold shiver down her spine. "_Best not to think about it." _

She looks around her for probably the thousandth time that day. It may be dark, but the moon gives sufficient light to see all around her.

"_Big surprise, more wheat." _

Basically giving up on doing anything else for the rest of the night, she decides to lay down near the road and rest for a bit. A million thoughts go through her head as she lays her head down on the hard earth: "_Will I ever find anyone? What happened to this place? From what I remember it was not completely covered in wheat. I NEED water and something to eat or else all of my fighting will have been for nothing."_

This had not been a very successful day. Nothing was accomplished except a sore throat and dehydration. Many things trouble Chell at the moment however one thought crosses her mind before she drifts asleep from pure exhaustion:

"_Will I ever love someone?"_

* * *

Chell awakes to the blazing sun and a grumbling stomach. Nothing had changed. Wheat was still everywhere, the road was still beside her, teasing her with its endlessness. The sky was cloudless, thus letting on yet another brutally hot day. Chell got up, holding her stomach from its lack of hunger in the process. She looked both ways at the road, then proceeded with a slow trudge towards the direction she was going the night before.

Chell walked for what seemed like hours without any stop. She hated complaining all the time but she couldn't help it. It was the truth. Her feet were in immense pain from all the walking (the huge ass boots didn't help), she most likely had dehydration, along with heat exhaustion coupled with the need for something edible besides wheat. Her life seemed pretty shitty right now.

Chell felt as if she would pass out. She hung her head down low and walked at a zombie like pace down the road for who knows how long. The heat was completely unbarable. She stopped sweating long ago and she could feel her body start to shut down on its own.

"_No. I can't pass out. This can't be the end. I have come so fa-"_

A large object cut Chell's thought short as she tripped and fell to the ground. She honestly did not have the strength to get back up. As she lay on her face, she mustered all of the strength left in her body to see what she had fallen over. It was a small backpack, more like a bag actually (one of the straps was missing). It was old and faded but as Chell picked it up, she could make out an Aperture Science logo. It had one of the old logos from the company back in the their early days of the 60's and 70's. A fully healthy (well mostly healthy) Chell would have thrown the old pack as far as she could because there is NO WAY finding this would be coincidental. However, she was pretty much about to die and she noticed the pack was slightly heavy.

"_Please let there be something I can eat in here." _Chell thought as she practically teared the pack's zipper open with as much force as she could muster. Her life depended on what was in this bag.

"_No fucking way."_

The pack contained a full water bottle, and a few cans of various foods. Chell grabbed the water without even thinking if it was ok to drink and drank half the bottle in one gulp. Immediately she started to feel better, her throat slightly less sore and her moral boosted greatly. The water was the best tasting water she ever had. Literally, it probably was. It was completely clear and had no sign of murkiness or contamination. All the water Chell drank in Aperture made her question her sanity daily as she went to new lows of getting water. Even drinking from a toilet.

As Chell was able to think clear thoughts now through slower more controlled sips of water (She had to preserve it, there was only one bottle), she began to wonder how she didn't see this bag coming. She was looking down at the road the whole time, she surly would have seen it. She looked around again for the first time in actually awhile. She was about to conclude on seeing nothing but wheat for who knows how many times when she actually saw something slightly in the distance.

Chell's eyes widened slightly as she quickly got up and put all the contents of the bag back inside. She picked up the bag and slung it around her shoulder as she began to walk towards a slightly large looking structure. Chell could practically contain her excitement and forced herself not go on a full dead sprint to the structure. She however, did not want to waste all the water she just recently drank by sweating it all away from running. As she approached the structure in a fast walk, she began to see the structure more clearly. It was a small house, with one story and a few windows and a chimney. It was made of wood, but clearly not wood from around here since there were zero trees around. Chell couldn't see it before, but there was also a small barn next to the house as well.

Chell approached the front door of the house with caution. She didn't know what to expect, but from the looks of the house it looked abandoned. Or at least not used in a very long time. She expected the worst as she approached the door. For some reason, she had the urge to knock. So she did. No response of course.

Chell emitted a small chuckle as she reached for the door handle. She never made it that far as a large, well _something,_ hit her in the head and knocked her unconscious.

Chell's unconscious body was then grabbed by a pair of hands and led into the house, accompanied by two other figures.

* * *

_Hope you enjoyed it and feedback is d__efinitely __appreciated__:)_


	3. Chapter 3

_I don't remember what I said up here but all you need to know is that I revised this chapter with some story aspects and grammer/spelling. Thanks! And Enjoy_

* * *

Rain pattered away at the roof of the small wooden house. It was torrentially down pouring for quiet some time with no sign of of end. Thunder boomed across the sky and slightly shook the foundation of the tiny house. The house had an old brownish tint to it, with a curved black tile roof and brick chimney. The small barn near the house was also made of wood, but appeared to be much older than its neighboring house. This house at one point in time may have been home to farmers who grew wheat, and lots of it for that matter. This may explain the endless amber colored hills surrounding the area, overgrown due to the lack of taking care of it.

The structure currently housed 3 people with a new "arrival" occupying one of the only beds. Due to the surprise visiter and the cramped feeling of having to stay indoors, everyone was a little on edge at the moment.

Chell opened her eyes slowly, her head still spinning from the object that hit her. She could hear voices in her proximity, arguing over something, but she couldn't quiet make out what they were saying. She slowly tried to sit up from the bed she was laying on, however her hands were tied up to the posts of the bed frame. Scared, she was now fully awake. Darting her eyes around the room looking for a way to get out of this situation. She would not be trapped again.

The two people arguing took notice to her struggle. One of the men, who was dark skinned along with a well-built body, moved to restrain her.

"Hold her down, Julius!" yelled the other man. This man was had lighter skin, with brown hair and light brown eyes. He was standing behind Julius, seeming to look like a leader, commanding his partner. Both of the men were wearing orange jumpsuits, similar to Chell's but with more wear and tear.

Chell could feel two large hands holding her down with great force. This made her panic even more not only due to the fact that she is trapped, but that she is looking at two humans for the first time that she can remember. Julius grabbed her arms down and held the struggling Chell down, which did not seem to help and made her panic even more.

Chell couldn't think straight. She didn't know what to do. So she did the only thing she could do.

She screamed.

If you would call it that. The scream was hardly a scream at all, more like a pre-pubescent teenager's voice cracking for the first time. It made her throat explode in pain, in need of something to drink, the water from before her knock to the head losing all its effect. The pitiful scream however, did produce some kind of reaction as Julius, the big hulking man he was, actually let go of Chell temporarily, as he was actually in a little shock of what just happened.

"What the hell was that?" said a voice from the other room. Both men in the room turned their heads in the direction of the door on the other side of the room. The small room they were in, was the only bedroom of the house and was small and cramped. Squareish in shape, it could barely contain two full grown men let alone another one entering the room.

"She… she screamed. I think?" responded Julius.

"More like a screech" added the other man.

The new man that entered the room shook their comments off and turned to the leader-looking man. "Whatever she did, why are you two trying to hold her down when she is clearly tied up to the bed?"

"Jason, mind your own damn business. I'm the fucking leader around here. For all we know, she could be with _him_." The leader seemed to really accentuate the word _him_ as if it meant something bad.

"Boone, open your fucking eyes! She's one of us!" Jason shouted this at the leader now named Boone while waving his hand in the direction where Chell who was still tied up to the bed. Jason had about the same build as Boone, but would have trouble overcoming him if it was needed. He had short, dirty blond hair, with bluish- green eyes. His face took the complexion as somewhat soft yet somehow a little hard around the contours of his face.

Chell looked at him with great interest.

"_This guy is defending me and he doesn't even know who I am. Not to mention he look's-" _

"Well mister fucking know it all, what makes you say that? Huh? First she tried to break into our house and now she is struggling to break free! One of _us-"_Boone said this mockingly while pointing a waving a finger in the air, signifying he meant everyone in the room. Except Chell. "-wouldn't do something like that!"

"Boone, she's just scared! You can see it in her eyes. Besides, she's wearing one of the jumpsuits! She came from Aperture just like all of us!" Jason started to move towards Boone, almost in a confrontational type of way. For all Chell knew, they would start beating the shit out each other at any second. The two have appeared to have had this fight before, many times.

"So what?! Who's to say she isn't brainwashed by-"

"HEY!"

Julius's voice boomed through the small room and all attention went to him.

"If you two idiots would just stop fighting for one second, maybe we can actually give her a chance to say something." Julius now looked at a frightened Chell, who was shocked by his sudden outburst.

Chell contemplated what he said for a second. She knew she had to keep it brief, her voice ever working again depended on it. Also, the "scream" from before was still hurting her throat immensely. All eyes were now her. Now that she had everyone's full attention, she had this horrible sense of dread fill her. The particular situation was not in her favor: three strong looking men holding a very vulnerable women captive on a bed in a house in the middle of nowhere.

No, Chell's situation definitely looked quiet bleak.

Trying to shake this feeling off, she attempted to speak to the men, but now she was more scared than ever.

"uh…I-" she spoke very slowly and cautiously as her throat exploded in pain once more. Before she could even think to move on, she needed water or something to get rid of the dryness of her throat. All those months or years or however long it was she was trapped in Aperture of not speaking at all, really did a number on her voice.

"P…please…water." Is all she could mutter anymore. She attempted to move her arm towards her mouth to point to her throat. However, it was still tied down.

Jason acted first: "Boone, look! She can't even speak! Get her some water!"

"Don't fucking tell me what to do!" Boone got up in Jason's face as if he was about to punch him square in the face. However he didn't and commanded Julius instead: "Julius! Get the girl some water. Then we will have a "chat" with her." With that he left room, along with Julius who responded to his leader's command without saying anything.

"_Girl?! How old do you think I fucking am?!", _Chell thought this to herself, a little irritated from the rudeness but grateful they will help her desert of a throat.

Jason watched as his two companions left the room and decided to stay. Jason shaked his head in disgust once Boone and Julius left the room. He made his way over to where Chell's bed was and pulled up a chair to sit on.

"Don't worry about Boone, he's just a hard-ass on purpose just because he thinks he's the leader." Jason gave Chell a little reassuring smile as he said this. "And hey don't worry you won't be tied up for much longer. We've all seen people like you before. We all came from the same place. So we all live together in this world, in a now defunct Aperture, attempting to live out the rest of our lives without worry. Except for-"Jason paused at this, as if contemplating whether or not he should tell her not. He was about to say something else when Julius came back in the room with a bottle of water similar to the one Chell drank before and a small knife. Jason got up from his chair and moved out of the way as Julius came over and went to Chell's arm restraints.

"I'm going to untie you now. If you attempt to do anything other than drink this water, then I will hit you much harder on head than I did before." Julius locked eyes with Chell and gave her mean glare once he finished his threat. Chell shook her head quickly in acknowledging she understood perfectly. Julius took the knife and brought it up to her restraints and quickly cut both off. Julius then threw the water bottle at Chell.

"Drink up" He said coldly and turned to leave. "Watch her" he said to Jason on his way out.

Jason nodded his head in acknowledgement and turned back to Chell, who already was tearing into her bottle of water and drinking it excessively.

"Hey, easy there. You don't want to throw it all back up." Jason made a little chuckle to himself as he slowly reached over to pull the bottle away from her mouth.

"Th...Thanks" Chell barely said out loud as she gulped down more water. The water felt even better than the water she had from before. It helped her throat enormously, almost instantaneously healing her dry throat. She may be able to start speaking again sooner than she thought.

"You're welcome. How rude of me! I didn't even ask you your name! I'm Jason by the way." Jason said this with a big smile at the end. Chell took notice to his cheery personality and wondered how he was able to be this way one second then about to fight someone the next second so quickly. She stared at him with a curious look before answering.

"Chell"

"Interesting name! I can see you're from Aperture…how long has it been since you got away?" Jason said this in a cautious tone, as if it might hurt her to answer such a thing.

Chell though about this for a second. She knew it had been roughly 2 days now, but then she started to think about all the other men. They had all been test subjects at some point but how long ago was that? She knew a great deal of time had passed when she was in a relaxation chamber after she defeated GLaDOS for the first time. And if it was recent for them too, how come she never heard of these people before or saw them at some point? She decided to ask them later when her voice returned to its full health.

"2 days"

Jason was about to respond but was a little taken aback by her response. He gave her a quizzical look, and then a look of shock. Chell took notice to this and was confused by his strange reaction. Why was that bad?

"C…Chell"

"What?"

"We've been living on the surface for over 3 years now. The world isn't the way it was before. No one is left from Aperture, no one is left from anything actually…." Jason let his last statement linger off as if to allow her to take it all in.

Chell couldn't even remember the way the world was from before she was in Aperture. But she didn't remember one important thing.

There were people.

* * *

_Look at next chapter for full update_


	4. Chapter 4

**_Wow_**

_It has been almost half a year since I updated this story. If you have been following this story, I profusely thank you for keeping with this story! I really do thank you it means so much to me. Since it has been so long, I definelty have some explaining to do. First of all, I am young and still in school so theres one factor. Also, this summer, my job as a lifeguard left me completely busy with no time to write all in between. I would get home late and would just simply, not feel like it. I have to be in the right mindset in order to do this writing thing. Next, summer assignments for school, had to do those. NEXT! School started so had to deal with that. NEXT!(Last one), I raun Cross Country for my school and the season coupled with school just left me drained and simply unispired to do anything but play video games or read lol. But don't fret! All this I feel was good for me. Why do you ask? Well I read a SHITLOAD of books while on break at work and at school. It felt like doing research in a way to me. In other words, I looked at other writing styles, so now I feel I am a better writer becuase of it. ANYWAYS, Don't want to keep waiting any longer! Please enjoy and Thank you! :)_

* * *

Alone

That's how Chell felt when this man that she barely knew for 5 minutes told her a shocking truth.

She felt more alone than ever before. Even while she was in Aperture, she never felt truly alone. Not only because of the sadistic robot overseer but at least there she felt like she had a sense of purpose: Escape. The hope that she would get out and find out what the hell went wrong, how she got there, and everything wrong in between.

Now she felt like it was all for nothing.

Seriously, she did. Living a good part of your life from what you can remember zero people around you will do that to you.

Now bigger questions went through her brain: "_How long was I actually down there? There has to be something from my previous life that still exists!_ _Fuck! Why can't I remember anything! Who the hell are all these people and how did they escape? Why is this good looking man with pretty bluish-green eyes staring at me like that?!"_

Chell quickly snapped back to attention as she realized the good looking man, who she now remembers as Jason, is looking at her funny once again.

"_He really does look-"_

"Chell? You okay?" Jason looked genuinely concerned. He had just rocked her world, as lightly as he thought he could, but he didn't expect her to act this way.

Chell stopped ogling over this human male that she hasn't been in contact with who knows long. To long for her to remember. She finally worked up courage to form words from her mouth:

"Y-yeah" she said while her throat still hurting a great deal. She took a quick sip of water in response. Before Jason could even respond, Boone, suddenly stormed in once again, although slightly less pissed. Slightly.

"Jason! What the fuck are you doing! You TRYING to get us all killed?" Boone screamed at Jason. He was clearly ticked about something but Chell didn't know what it was. They were just talking, no harm done there.

"Just talking. Her names Chell by the way." Jason said coolly, as if nothing was wrong. According to Boone, everything was wrong. All the time from what Chell has seen.

"Yeah? Who cares! What did you find out?" Boone said angrily to Jason

"Boone, calm the fuck down! She's been out of Aperture for 2 days! Give her a fucking break" Boone looked a little taken aback his response, as if he felt a little sympathy for her. He even relaxed a little. Well kind of.

Jason then looked at Chell, gave her a little smile then quickly looks back at Boone. Chell actually felt slightly reassured by his gesture. _"Maybe it shows he cares? No, that's stupid why would he? He barely knows me. Shit. I'm think WAY too hard about this. First man that actually shows genuine interest in my wellbeing in forever shows up and this how I act? Wow, I really need to calm down…"_

Jason then gets up and walks up to Boone. Now that Chell is more awake than ever, she can see both the men in much greater detail.

They look beaten.

Not necessarily physically, for all she knew that could be true but what they looked like more was just mentally and psychologically beaten. She could see it in their eyes. They looked worn, with huge grey bags under their eyes. She couldn't tell exactly how old each of them were because they were so worn and dirty looking. However, she did take note that none of them had grey hair or wrinkles but just their image made them look about a thousand years older than they actually were. She made note to ask them everything she could once she could talk normally once again.

She hoped that was soon.

"Boone, look at her." Jason says calmly "She needs help. Does it look like she is with _him_?

"_There it is again! Him. I need to ask who that is. I know t can't be good though." _Chell worriedly thought. However she wasn't sure if she even wanted to know.

Boone then looks at Chell. Laying on this old, tattered mattress is scared a women who knows nothing of the outside world. Boone relaxes even more once he realizes the state she is in.

"No, She doesn't" Boone says softly, not yelling for once.

"We need to help her" Jason says, slightly assertive.

Boone doesn't answer for a while. He looks at the floor with grim look on his face, as if thinking about something that's he wants to forget. He then realizes he hasn't responded and looks Chell right in the eyes.

There are tears.

Chell has her mouth hanging open slightly, shocked by what is happening. Now she is more confused than ever. Here is a man who was just acting like shit to her and now he's getting all emotional? Nothing makes sense to her anymore.

"….No" He says authoritatively "Not again" Boone quickly wipes the tears from his eyes. The hard-ass leader is back.

"Boone, you can't dwell on that forever! You need to move on. This the first step. Helping people." Jason says this softly yet forcefully to Boone. Something happened that Chell is afraid to ask. At least to Boone that is.

Boone looks at Jason for first time not as an enemy, but almost as a friend. He then responds after what seems like forever, the tension in the room reaching a new high.

"I-I can't-"

"You can"

"But-"

"It won't happen again. I will make sure of that."

Boone looks intently at Jason, as if thinking things through in his head how everything will go.

"She's your responsibility. I won't be blamed for the death of another person." With that Boone leaves the room, quickly but not forcefully.

Jason then looks at Chell. Chell takes everything in, still shocked over everything. She has no idea what the fuck is going on and wants to take charge for once. She's tired of just being the bystander.

It is time to get some answers.

Chell practically springs from the bed, heading directly at Jason. However, she is unsure of what to do next as she just sort of stands there in front of him. A million questions formulate through her mind at the moment but sticks at the most. She wills herself to get over the pain of speaking and finally says, shakily:

"W-Who are you people?" Chell hangs on, her throat once again exploding in pain. She's still clutching the water bottle and once again takes a quick sip. There, better.

"Survivors" Jason says matter of factly.

However, Jason can tell by the look on her face that this answer doesn't satisfy her.

"We…We are all test sub-excuse me WERE, test subjects at Aperture. We escaped, Me, Julius, Boone and a few others about-"

"There are other people?!" Chell shouts out, weakly , comically almost. She immediately regrets it.

Jason notices her pain and points to her water bottle with a smile. Chell drinks, happy to oblige.

"Yes, four others. They stayed at our camp in town a few miles from here. Julius, Boone, and I went out to look for some more supplies. This house is one of our safe houses…." He let the last phrase linger for a little, as if there was reasoning behind it. Chell wanted what it was they were trying to keep safe from, but wanted him to continue. She nudged him to keep talking.

"We've lived like this for 3 years now, at least that's what the clock at our camp says. An Aperture clock of course, so how could we trust it?" Jason chuckles at this. "Time doesn't make any sense to me anymore. The way the world is not how I remember it."

Jason ends this with a grim look on his face. Chell looks at him intently, seeing that she is looking at a man who barely knows more than she does.

She likes him.

Jason looks away and quickly walks to the side of the bed.

"We found this with you" He says picking up the back back/bag and showing it to Chell. "Funny that you found it, we were looking for it. Julius must have dropped it by accident. He carries so much shit when we go out on these runs that it makes sense that he never noticed this fall off his back."

"It saved me" Chell said without thinking. Talking was getting a little easier, however, still hurt a great deal.

"It did? Well good thing" Jason said with a smile. He then threw the bag at Chell. "Keep it, if you're going to be with us at least help out a little." He said with a little smirk. Chell caught it with a slight fumble, she was still used to grabbing things with her portal gun. Julius suddenly yelled from the other room causing them both to look over.

"Hey! You two! The rain stopped we're leaving!" Chell completely forgot it was raining. Jason, then looked at Chell and made a nodding notion to go out the door. Chell then left and now got a better look at the rest of the house.

The room she was just in was the only bedroom. She walked into the living room which had a kitchen and bathroom to her left and the door out on her left. The house definitely was old and grimy, barely furnished with a lone couch and a random easy chair askew in the living room. Everything in the kitchen seemed to be missing for some reason, for that she doesn't know why.

Julius and Boone were waiting by the door with impatient looks and huge, full bags most likely full of supplies being carried on their backs. Another huge back by their feet, most likely Jason's. Jason then appeared behind Chell and walked by her and picked up the bag.

"You ready?" Jason asks jovially.

Julius and Boone rolled their eyes.

"Jason, you can flirt with your new girlfriend while we walk. Let's go!" Boone says this while he opens the door with a smirk and walks out. Julius chuckles slightly and follows him. Jason, with red face nods in the direction outside and walks out, following his two comrades.

Chell stands there a little longer, still shocked over what has just happened. One moment she was on her own trying to survive, next she met 3 people, actual people, and is now apparently part of their group. Culture shock was truly setting in.

"_This is good for me. Seemed bad at first but now I see it as good. I need to follow these men. They will lead me to more people! Hopefully there not all guys though….that would REALLY be bad. Jason seems to be nice though. I really do mean it, I like him. I think I can convince myself that it's not just out of loneliness. Maybe. _She smirks at this and continues to think about the possibilities that could happen between her and Jason. Now this really starts to make her smirk.

"CHELL! COME ON!" Chell snaps back to reality as she sees the three of them far away from in the distance, already walking down the road. Boone is looking at her disapprovingly, clearly the one who yelled at her while Jason looks back and just smiles. Julius just shakes his head and keeps walking.

"This is going to be interesting" Julius says with a smirk as he leaves Boone and Jason just standing there. They look at him and shrug.

Chell finally wills her legs to move and sprints after the trio with her bag in hand. Her feet are still killing her, her long fall boots not helping to ease the pain at all. As she runs towards them, she can't help but smile. Her new life awaits. She knows that she is much passed her youth but doesn't know her age. That along with many other facts about her life have left her. Long forgotten by living in Aperture for so long. She longs to know why this is. She wants to know everything: Where she came from, what her life was like before, why she is the person that she is.

But none of this matter right now. Her life has changed so quickly before her eyes that is almost too much to take. She does know one thing though and it makes her the happiest person on earth (Give or take that is apparently only out of a few people).

She feels like she can live again and that's good enough as any to act alive.

Chell plans on moving on, whatever the cost may be.

* * *

_Please review and tell me what you think! You never know, I might reply ;) Everyones question I know will be "When will the next chapter be out?"_

_I can proudly say that the schedule will now be once a week._

_I think._

_Hopefully_

_Seriously, don't fret, I have much more time on my hands now but I still feel that once a week, possibly a little longer than that at times is what I can handle. Again THANK YOU SO MUCH :):):):):):):)_


	5. Chapter 5

_Wow. Guys seriously I'm truly sorry for the delay. A lot has happened since the last update and theres no way I could explain it all just in this forward. However, I will explain why I changed the rating from M to T. I planned on this being a little more lighthearted with some conflict and of course, a little smutty romance. I have now realized that is not how I want the story to be. I won't say more than that though. Sorry if I let any of you guys down by this. Anyway, enough of this forword! Please enjoy!_

* * *

Boredom

A million thoughts and questions running through her head and Chell is simply bored. The group of 4 has been walking along the dusty dirt path for a few hours now and the heat and humidity from the previous rain is taking its toll on them. No one speaks. Not even Chell. She knows better.

Better

Life truly is getting better for her. She found some other people, as if this was her saving grace from going insane. Also, Jason is pretty good looking too.

Chell smiles at that.

Looking at the ground for what seems like forever, sweat beading down on her face, Chell feels as if it is a sin to get water out of her pack. This group, although hostile at first, were the first people to show any kind of compassion towards her. As far as she remembers of course. GLaDOS of course never showed any such thing. Why would she?

Chell then remembers all the crazed drawings she saw while in Aperture. One was even a drawing of herself oddly enough. She thought it strange at the time (and a little creepy) but all she wonders about now is who drew those strange drawings. She giggled as she remember the phrase "The Cake is a Lie" drawn hastily virtually everywhere.

"What was that?" Boone suddenly quirked, paranoid as ever. He looks around for a moment then draws his eyes on Chell. "Was that you?"

Zoned out for so long, Chell is at a loss for words. "Yeah" she feebly replies. The others say nothing, too tired to give the effort.

Her throat feels no better from when she first started speaking words for the first time since she can remember. She immediately takes out her bag and takes a sip of water. Relief is brief, but better form when she spoke. Boone takes her answer with a small "humph" and looks forward again.

His eyes widen slightly, as if he sees something in the distance. "Hey guys" Everyone looks up. "We're here"

Chell looks up again to see a very small town. A few buildings are scattered here and there, mostly small. The road that they are walking on leads straight into the town, directly through the center which then appears to stop at a slightly larger, town hall looking building. All the buildings look completely run down, like they haven't actually occupied people for years. Some buildings in fact, actually have several char and burn marks all over them. Others are just completely leveled, as if blown up. In total, it's the largest sign of outside civilization Chell has ever seen. She looks beyond the town and still sees nothing but wheat and a few scattered trees

The group picks up the pace slightly at the sight of the town, only a few minutes away at this point. Everyone is dripping in sweat, having been outside for so long. However, no one runs or anything of that sort. Just walking quicker than usual. Chell attempts to keep up with them, which is surprisingly difficult for her. She hasn't had to keep up with something in awhile. She is usually the one getting chased after all.

They pass a weathered sign that is drooping slightly on its side. It reads:

**Welcome to the Town of Waverly, IA **

**Population: 374**

**Current Mayor: John Pinkerton**

Chell stops and looks at this for a moment while the others quickly move on. For some reason, the sign interested her. Seeing that the town once had people gave her a slight glimmer of hope, which was diminished when she looked up at the slightly destroyed, ghost town. Chell just frowns at this.

No one seems to notice that she stayed behind, most likely too tired to care. She quickly jogs to catch up to them. Boone and Jason look behind and stop to see Chell running up to them. Julius just keeps walking forward, not caring in the least.

"Where did you run off to?" Boone asks, clearly annoyed "We need to stick together and if you lag behind like that then you're hurting us more than helping us"

"Be easy on her, she's never been here before" says Jason while rolling his eyes "She was just looking at the sign."

"Really? Well then it's all fine and dandy then isn't it? Distancing herself from the group and putting herself in even more danger? That's fine of course!" Boone practically screams this at Jason, who is taken aback by his remark.

Chell is just confused. She doesn't understand why Boone is like a time-bomb waiting to explode. He is extremely paranoid and rash about all decisions, jumping to the worst conclusions as possible. She remembers the group mentioning a person only by _him _and how that made Boone tear up. She deduces that this _him _whoever he is, did something terrible to Boone in the past. She wanted to know what it was and not at the same time.

She knew sooner or later she would find out whether she liked it or not.

She decided not to pry. For now.

Jason looks at Boone with a bewildered look, then looks at Chell sympathetically. "He's just paranoid. Come on." Jason says while waving Chell toward him. He starts walking back in their original direction, now entering the town towards the town hall looking building. Chell follows and passes a clearly infuriated yet distraught Boone, who appears to be thinking about much more than Chell lagging behind a little.

Chell follows Jason through the town, towards the town hall building. The town is so quiet, the only thing she hears is an old wind vane blowing slightly in the wind. She looks at the buildings surrounding her, mostly made of wood. There's a small general store to her right, as well as a post office. To her left is a small chain grocery store with a logo that looks slightly familiar but she can't remember. All the buildings are dark and abandoned. Cars are parked along the street, which seems strange to her, as none are just laying in the middle of the street. They are all perfectly parked on the sides. Most look completely weathered away, however some are just black skeletons, as if they exploded. Just like the houses she saw from outside of town.

Jason seems to notice her looking around. "Welcome to the town of Waverly, as I'm sure you saw on the sign on the way in. Our camp is just inside the old town hall. Has a lot of old Aperture tech from the _Old World_ in there that somehow still works. We-"

Chell cuts him off-"Ol-old World?" It hurts to say it but she had to know.

"Oh yeah" Jason says nonchalantly "Sorry, I forget you're new to the whole 'civilization' thing." He says chuckling.

"The _Old World_ is what we refer to as basically, life before we were in Aperture. I can remember a few things, but it's mostly cloudy. Being underground, getting injected with mysterious liquids, and doing tests for who knows how long will do that to you." Jason ends this with a nervous chuckle while looking right at Chell.

Chell doesn't know what to of that other than that she knows that time has passed and is looking towards the future. Jason looks at her expectantly, looking for a response. Chell merely just smiles and nods in recognition, her throat in too much pain to say anything. Jason accepts this and moves even closer to the town hall. Chell is curious as to what their "camp" looks like. The pair make it to the door and Jason stops them there as if to say something before they enter. Boone is slowly pouting his way towards them. She assumes Julius is already inside.

"Just so you know, there are a few more of us inside" Jason says right as he opens the door. This excites Chell even more, now wanting more than ever to go inside. Could there be 10 more? 20 more? 100? She brushes those numbers off as ridiculous, since this ghost town hasn't emitted a human noise since she arrived. They walk in the building together, with Boone who finally caught up to them, closely following behind.

"Where the hell have you been?!" A quirky, high pitched, female voice suddenly yells from inside the building. Chell looks at the source of the noise and sees a pretty, average height and framed woman with icy blue eyes and her blonde hair pulled back in bun. She is wearing the same orange Aperture jumpsuit as everyone else. She clearly looks annoyed but then her face softens when she sees Chell. "Found another one?" She softly says to Jason.

"Yeah" Jason replies lowly. "Her names Chell. Chell meet Sam, our wonderful team cheerleader." He says sarcastically. Boone actually chuckles at this remark but doesn't smile. He then quickly walks off past the group, shaking his head in the process and into a far room down a hall, out of sight.

"Hey! What's that that supposed to mean!" Sam yells with false anger. "I merely just like being the comic relief in this hellhole of a world we call home." She ends with a chuckle and a blink at Chell.

"_Strange" _Chell thinks. "_Weird girl. But I might end up liking her"_

Chell merely waves at her and smiles, not wanting to risk speaking again. Jason notices her do this and speaks for her.

"She hasn't spoken a word to another human in a really long time. It'll take her awhile to get acquainted again with the whole speaking thing." Jason simply says

"Oh alright…that's fine." Sam says with somewhat genuine gloom. "I was really hoping I would-"

"-have someone who actual wants to talk to you?" Another voice interjects from the railing upstairs causing everyone to look up. Chell looks at the source. A short, olive skinned women with almond like brown eyes and jet black hair, like her own, she notices also accompanied by an orange Aperture jumpsuit. She is leaning forward on the railing with a huge smug look on her face and suddenly vaults over the railing and lands directly next to Sam, granting a large yelp of obscenities from her. Jason merely just laughs and grumbles about here being a "ninja" of some sort (Whatever _that_ is). The woman appears completely unscathed, looking to have done that a million times before.

"I HATE it when you do that, Mika!" Sam yells at her.

"It's why I do it" This girl now named Mika merely shrugs back in response with a smile on her face. Sam then proceeds to storm out of the hall with a loud grunt of irritation and walks into the same room Boone went through earlier. Mika then looks at Chell with a smile. "I'm Mika by the way. Sorry for the sudden entrance. I just like to scare the shit out Sam on a daily basis. Keeps me going."

Chell once again just smiles and waves in reply. Mika looked unfazed by her introduction.

"I've been watching you since you guys appeared over the town's horizon, so I know you're a mute by now" Mika says matter-of-factly.

"Mika's our groups scout" Jason says in reply.

"And a damn good one at that" She replies proudly then says under her breath, "Not that it's really needed to begin with"

Jason shrugs off her comment. "Well let's not stand here all day. Let's get something to eat." Jason then walks off toward the room where everyone else went before. Chell looks at Mika, who merely shrugs once more and follows Jason followed by Chell.

Chell walks into a slightly large room that looks to be some kind of living area. There are two couches and an easy chair that surround a fireplace, with a stove in the corner along with pots and pans thrown about aimlessly. A table with a full set of chairs for all of them is in another corner, as well some shelves with various cans of food and other supplies lining the walls. To Chell, it looks as if a bunch of items from other rooms were thrown together in this room to make the space seem somewhat livable. She is sure that is exactly what it was. Boone is laying down on the couch looking to already be asleep. Mika goes and sits at the table in the corner, going back to a book she appeared to have sitting there from before. Sam is sitting in the easy chair looking at a piece of paper with sad look. Chell can't seem to place why. Julius is by the fireplace with a blank look on his face, using a spoon to stir a large pot of what looks to be soup in the fire. Chell didn't realize just how hungry she was until now as her stomach grumbled loudly. Jason, sitting on the couch opposite to Boone's sees Chell standing there taking everything in.

"Hungry?" He asks

"St-starving" Chell barely manages to get out.

"Don't say anything. You'll make it worse" Julius says suddenly without even taking his off the soup in the fire. Chell gives him a quizzical look, surprised that he actually said something.

"Sit" Jason says, pointing to a spot on the couch near him. Chell blushes at this slightly then reluctantly sits next to him. But not too close to him of course.

"Soup almost done Julius?" Jason asks politely. Boone is now heard snoring throughout the room. Sam doesn't even look up from her piece of paper, a tear now going down her cheek.

"Done now actually" Julius says coldly. "Here" he states while giving him a bowl and spoon, which Jason gives to Chell. Julius then pours another for everyone else besides Boone, who is too out of it to be bothered with. Chell doesn't hesitate to start eating. She can't remember the last time she had hot food, if ever. Everyone eats in an awkward silence, even the usually talkative Jason who looks just as solemn as the mood of the room.

Chell finishes first and looks at everyone and can't seem to place why everyone looks so distant. Everything seemed to be alright just a moment ago. What suddenly happened?

Julius, who finishes next, breaks the awkward silence.

"We have some explaining to do. And this isn't the first time we've had to do it"

* * *

_Thanks for reading and please leave a review on what you thought! Seriously any criticism would be great, good or bad. I'm not the kind of asshole who will block you just because you said something bad about my story. Honestly, I can't guarantee any update schedule. I know I have said so in the past and I am deeply sorry for this. It honestly stresses me out to have a "dedicated" schedule for these stories. It makes me feel forced and obligated to do it when this should be for fun and for my enjoyment. Basically, I'm going to take this at my own pace and updates will honestly come out when I feel like it. Sorry if that sounds kind of douchey but that's the way I am able to handle things momentarily. Thank you again for support if you have given it! _

_Next Chapter? _

_Answer: Soon_


	6. Chapter 6

Nothing but the fire is heard crackling in the room. No one speaks for the longest time. The only light in the living area is the fire. Chell realizes just how cold she actually is and the fire being a source of warmth she hasn't felt since almost being burned alive by GLaDOS back in Aperture. To the AI it seemed like a game. A game with puppets she could control to do her own bidding. All day and night with no rest, no remorse, no feeling.

But this is now. And this is real. Real emotions that Chell hasn't the slightest clue of ever experiencing them before in her life. She may have at some point before she was a test subject for Aperture, but now is not the time to dwell on the past.

More tears have formed on Sam's eyes. She seems completely unfocused on what is going on in the room at the moment. Mika tries to look like she is reading her book still, but Chell can tell she isn't giving any attention to the words on the pages bellow her. Boone is now snoring much softer now, clearly in deep sleep. Jason shifts his body nervously on the couch so he is facing Chell. He makes a move to say something, but Julius beats him to it. His voice sounds refreshing after the long silence.

"We had a few others" Julius says simply, as if Chell should have already known this. "They're dead now." He makes no move to say anything else.

Sam cries out slightly at this, but is able to contain herself. She then slowly looks up from her picture for the first time since Chell can remember and looks straight at Julius. Her face is distraught, but looks tired. Just completely tired and beaten like everyone else. She then looks at Chell and speaks surprisingly quickly and full of emotion.

"They were our friends. And _he _killed both of them. We had no idea what to do or where he came from. One in particular, Aron… he was my-"She stops herself short, unable to finish. Chell can assume what Aron meant to her. Chell still continues to wonder who _him_ is but decides to let them speak for themselves first. Julius continues from where she left off.

"The other….good thing Boone isn't awake for this…."Julius quickly looks at Boones sleeping form, checking to see if he will wake up or not. "…Was a close friend of Boones. Very Close. She didn't escape with the rest of us. We found her. Like you. But…._he_ killed her too." He finishes on that solemn note, leaving Chell with even more questions than before. Another silence falls in the room. Everyone except Chell is looking at the floor, deep in thought. The memories are too hard for them. Chell can't take it anymore. She needs to ask them something.

"W-who is h-him?" her throat straining from use of words. She's starting to get used to it though. Everyone in the room gives her a bewildered look, as if this is common information. She only escape two days ago after all.

Jason finally speaks up. "He…we don't know that much about him. Only that he probably worked for Aperture. He wears a grimy white lab coat with the logo on it." Jason pauses slightly to collect his thoughts. "He calls himself the 'Rat Man'. We don't know why- he's crazy though and we know that for sure. "He pauses, collecting his thoughts. Chell takes in every word, not really understanding much.

"He...leaves random drawings...drawings of-"

Chell doesn't let him finish. She stands up quickly with everyone looking at her as she walks out of the room. Tears form on the edges of her eyes as she learns this terrible truth. She finds herself walking even faster, almost running, not caring where she is going. She runs up the nearby stairs and sees a balcony at the end of the hall, running through the balcony door and putting her hands on the railings by the edge of the balcony. Night has fallen. The temperature drop is surprising and Chell isn't used to it. Her whole body is shaking from the cold and shock. More tears form in her eyes.

_"This is all my fault. I didn't know those drawings were written by a madman. He must have thought those other people were me...and when he found out who they were... I can't allow this to happen. But why does this 'Rat Man' have such an obsession over me? He drew pictures of me and helped me escape with his wall ramblings. I don't get it. Why did he help me? I'm so confused... And now my new friends are hurt because of someone else. Maybe I should just-"_

_"_Looking at the view?" Jason's surprisingly cheery voice is heard entering the room. He walks in with a goofy grin, as if nothing's wrong.

Chell is flabbergasted. Why is he avoiding the obvious? Chell can't take his "nice guy" behavior any longer. At first she was flattered, happy. But it was only out of fear, desperation (and of course attraction). But now her head is a little clearer now as she is able to put the puzzle pieces in her brain back together. Her moral compass is telling her to no longer accept his act any longer. She's back.

"W-why are you s-so nice to me?" she says painfully however she knows it needs to be said. "You barely know me" She didn't mean to sound so harsh, but now that she knows the truth she's tired of messing around.

Jason gives her a hurt look and at first looks anywhere but at her. He obviously didn't expect her to say that. He collects his thoughts for a moment before answering softly, his head looking down looking at his feet.

"I've seen you before" he says slowing, then looks her straight in the eyes. "_He _painted a picture of you"

Chell feels her knees give way under her. The shock is too much for her to bear. She sits down with her back against the balcony and holding her legs close to her body. She starts crying.

No sound but her crying is heard for a long time. Jason appears to take no reaction, as if he expected her to be in such shock. He kneels down however, so she can hear. He takes no action to comfort her however. She wouldn't want it either. It wouldn't feel real.

"When we found you...I knew you were special." He finally says in a quieter tone, "The Rat Man painted your picture on a wall for a reason. That's why I've been making it my priority to keep you safe and defend you from Boone's idiocy when I can."

He ends this with a smile, which to Chell actually seems genuine. However she isn't fazed by his ongoing attempt to seem nice to her. She can't get absorbed in him right now. She has other demons to battle first. Looking forward appears to be her only option at the moment. She wipes the tears from her face and looks up.

"W-where is it?" She asks rather quietly, not caring about the constant pain in her throat. She doesn't look him in the eyes.

"West of here." Jason states simply. "In an Aperture trial town, like this one. I'm the only one who saw it. Wasn't very significant to share with anyone else at the time. "

He ends on that note, clearly hurt that Chell is giving no more interest in him. He stands up, indicating he is ready to leave however stays put. Chell senses his presence still there and finally looks up to see what he is still doing standing there. Jason is looking out across the balcony, focusing on something in the distance. Chell gives him a curious look and stands up herself while wiping the tears off her eyes. She looks in the direction he is looking and her eyes widen.

A few miles in the distance, she can see a large fire, sticking out in the night like a sore thumb.

* * *

Jason and Chell stood on the balcony for only a few more moments before looking into each other's eyes with shock. They both were thinking the same thing. Jason immediately runs back through the door to the balcony and back down the stairs. Chell tries to follow closely behind, but too many thoughts are going through her head at once.

Chell barely made it back to the living area before she heard the shouting

"What do you mean a fire?!"

"It's him."

"Are you sure?! How can you be so sure? I need to see this. Now."

"No. We need to leave. Now."

"To hell we are! Move out of my way, Jason!"

"No. Sam, Julius start packing. Mika get as much tech as you can from the Stash. And you-"

Boone didn't let him finish. Jason's face made a large crack as Boone's fist slammed into his nose, causing him to stagger and scream in pain. Boone them jumps on top of Jason, bringing him to the ground. He pulls his arm back for another punch, but is stopped by Julius, who grabs his arm and pulls him off of Jason. Boone stares his fellow escapee down for a moment before backing off completely. Being smart for once, he knows not to pick a fight with Julius. Jason lays on the ground, clutching his most likely broken nose, which is now profusely flowing blood.

Sam screams and runs down to Jason with a dirty looking wash cloth, trying to stop the bleeding. Mika just leaves, most likely doing what Jason told her to. She always liked Jason more than Boone anyway and would always be willing to listen to him. Julius, after handling Boone, Kneels down to inspect the wound. Boone just looks away with a scowl on his face, muttering to himself.

"How bad?" Julius asks lowly

"Not good" Jason's barely audible voice responds.

"We need to sit you down. Laying on the ground won't do you any good."

Julius and Sam then help him up, taking him to the nearby table. They both stay there helping him tend to his wound.

Chell feels as she's a ghost. No one even noticed her at the doorway, witnessing the whole thing. Mika took no note of her on her way out. Boone however, looks over from his pity party and finally notices her.

"You!" he says, with a pointing finger. "Everything has gone to shit since you showed up!" He strides over, as if to punch her nose as well. Chell recoils at his remark backing into the hallway slightly.

"Boone, calm down for once and come help me" Julius says coolly, not looking away from his medical work on Jason (Which is barely more than cleaning it up. They have almost no supplies).

"No! I'm tired of being told what to do! It's all her fault!" He grabs her shirt and brings her forward quickly, giving Chell no time to react. "Who _are _you anyway?" He's up in her face now. She can smell his rancid breath and his face looks like a bursting volcano.

Chell doesn't know what to do. She just tries to shrink in response starts going back to her old ways. Bottling everything up, taking in everything and doing nothing with it. Back to the times when she would cry endlessly in between tests, wondering why her. Why her out of all the test subjects? Who am I?

"_No."_

Chell screams. This time a real one. It is painful but she doesn't care. Not in the least bit. She pushes Boone off of her and screams again. Tears flow from her eyes like streams once again. She collapses on the floor, getting in the fetal position, crying endlessly with her eyes shut.

Everyone looks at her, completely shocked and not knowing what to do. Jason even looks up to see her crying form, wishing he could do something. But he knows better. She needs to let it all out.

Boone slowing backs away from her and sits down at the table next to Julius and Sam. No one makes a move to do anything. Julius tries to get back to cleaning Jason's wound, but the tension is ever present. Mika suddenly appears in the doorway, with a few cardboard boxes with Aperture logos on them. She quickly sets them down and kneels down to comfort Chell. Everyone else just looks away. She puts a hand on her back and talks in a soothing voice, almost motherly like.

"It's alright. We've all been through this" She looks up to see everyone else look at her for a moment, then look away. "We need to move on. Crying about it won't make it any better."

This seems to calm Chell down slightly. She stops crying but continues sniffling, the soothing touch of Mika's hand actually helping her more than one would think. Mika continues to look down upon Chell with curious eyes, wondering the same thing Boone was. She thought Chell was strange for just suddenly showing up but it wasn't a first for her.

"Hey there, I'm sure it's been a long day for you. Let me show you to a place where you can sleep" Mika removes her hand from her back then gives her a little playful poke to get her moving.

Chell finally looks up at Mika with red, watery eyes and obliges. She gets up and follows Mika out of the room. Everyone watches them leave silently then goes back to whatever they were doing. The current issue at hand appearing to have just vanished out of their minds. Jason wishes he still could do something, but decides against it. He knows he has to cool off of the 'nice guy' act for a while and really get to know her before he does anything else.

Mika leads Chell through the hallway to another room, which appears to have at one point, been an office. A desk is pushed back against the far corner with an old Aperture monitor on top with lots of other books and files strewn about on top of it. Random papers are also laying around everywhere with other items that appear to be personal everywhere else. Two sleeping cots with scratchy looking blankets and old pillows are centered in the room.

"_Better than a test chamber" _Chellchuckles to herself.

Mika takes no note of her and walks over to one of the cots, which appears to not have been used for quite some time. "You can use this one." She says pointing down to the vacant cot. "No one needs it anymore" She finishes solemnly then looks at Chell quickly before leaving the room, clearly distraught by something. Chell eyes follow her out and she wonders why she was acting so weird all of a sudden.

"_This cot probably was her friend's. Boone's….friend."_

She feels kind of weird using a dead girl's cot but feels too tired to even care. A lot has happened to her in one day. She meets real humans and finds some kind of civilization, learning only that the world isn't the same since before she was in Aperture. The people she met, appear to have similar a similar story to one she has had (Although not as exciting). In fact she still barely knows nothing at all about her new found friends. It hurts her head to think about what has happened to her since escaping. That mixed with the bombshell the group dropped on her. It was almost too much for Chell to take in, almost seeming too real for her.

She pays no mind to any of this though as she plops down on the cot and falls asleep almost immediately, barely pulling the scratchy old blanket over her body.

* * *

Chell is dreaming. She's back in Aperture. She hears GLaDOS's robotic voice, cajoling her to continue the test. She can feel the portal gun in her hand once more. A cube is in front of her along with a bug red button next to it. The first test. She's done it a million times. Easy as cake.

"Well, are you just going to stand there?" GLaDOS's sarcastic voice says to her out of nowhere. Chell looks at the test before her then at the portal gun. She feels determined. She can do this. Just finish the test then it will all be over. But will it? Will it all be over? Or will there be another test? Will there always be a test?

Chell drops the portal gun.

"What do think you're doing?"

Chell turns around and sees nothing but a black wall of nothingness.

"You need to finish the test! You must do it. For Science."

Chell drowns the robotic overseer's voice out of her head as she closes her eyes and walks into the nothingness.

* * *

_Thank you and tell me what you think! Next Chapter coming soon..._

_By the way, a personal Milestone for me! This story has reached over 1000 views! Holy crap! Thank you guys so much! _


End file.
